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Thousands of DHL Express drivers and warehouse employees represented by the Teamsters have voted by a 96% margin to authorize a strike if negotiations fail to produce a new national contract before March 31. The union says pay, working conditions, and benefit protections remain unresolved, and leaders have warned they will not agree to any contract extensions. Bargaining teams have been meeting in Washington, but the union insists that both the national agreement and all supplemental local agreements must be finalized before the deadline. The standoff follows earlier labor unrest at DHL’s Cincinnati air hub and in Canada, signaling broader tensions across the company’s North American operations.

A new analysis from the Institute for Policy Studies shows that employees at some of the largest U.S. corporations earn wages so low that many qualify for Medicaid and SNAP, even as executive compensation and stock buybacks continue to climb. The report identifies 20 major S&P 500 companies whose median pay falls below basic assistance thresholds for a family of three, with Walmart and Amazon showing particularly high rates of workers enrolled in public programs. Researchers argue that corporate spending on buybacks—more than $32 billion in 2024—could have doubled wages for a million workers to a level sufficient to afford average U.S. rent. Companies pushed back, saying eligibility for benefits depends on household income and that federal minimum wage reform is needed, while labor advocates describe the situation as a form of corporate cost‑shifting onto taxpayers.

Private employers added 63,000 jobs in February, marking the strongest monthly increase since mid‑2025 and reversing a weak start to the year. Most of the growth came from education and health services, while construction also expanded and manufacturing continued to lose positions. The report arrives just ahead of the official federal jobs release, with economists expecting overall hiring to slow and unemployment to remain at 4.3%. With the labor market steadying despite tariff‑driven uncertainty and inflation still elevated, the data reinforces expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged at its upcoming meeting.

A staff strike inside the Writers Guild of America West has forced the cancellation of the guild’s Los Angeles awards ceremony, originally scheduled for March 8. Guild leadership said they would not ask members or guests to cross a picket line while non‑supervisory employees continue protesting over pay, AI protections, and basic contract safeguards. The staff union alleges that management has engaged in surveillance, retaliatory firings, and surface bargaining during negotiations that began last fall. With the New York ceremony still moving ahead, the cancellation adds tension to the upcoming Minimum Basic Agreement talks with Hollywood studios, recalling the guild’s major 148‑day strike in 2023.

Several major Japanese automakers have agreed to the full wage‑increase and bonus demands put forward by their unions during this year’s shuntō negotiations. Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, and Yamaha Motor each approved substantial monthly pay raises — ¥19,000, ¥18,000, and ¥19,400 respectively — along with bonuses worth roughly five months of salary. The companies moved earlier than most firms, aiming to sustain wage‑growth momentum despite financial pressure from U.S. tariff policies and a difficult business climate. Mazda also committed to its largest monthly raise since 2003, while Yamaha granted an additional annual day off for the first time in over three decades, reflecting broader industry efforts to improve working conditions.

A newly seated Republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board has reinstated the narrower 2020 joint‑employer standard, reversing a broader Biden‑era rule that never took effect after being struck down in court. The revived test requires companies to have direct and immediate control over essential working conditions before they can be held jointly responsible for bargaining or labor‑law violations involving contractors or franchise workers. Business groups have long favored this approach, while unions argue it ignores how large corporations influence working conditions indirectly through franchise and staffing arrangements. The decision is expected to face legal challenges and signals further rollbacks of union‑friendly policies adopted under the previous administration.

Artificial intelligence may push the U.S. into a period where unemployment remains higher even when the economy is functioning normally, according to outgoing Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic. In his interview, he explains that if companies permanently need fewer workers, the Fed cannot simply cut interest rates to force joblessness back down without risking inflation or policy mistakes. Bostic argues that structural labor shifts require policymakers to accept new economic realities rather than rely on traditional monetary tools. He also emphasizes that the Fed must continue examining how different demographic groups experience the labor market, even as political pressure around these issues intensifies.

Labor negotiations between the Oakland Education Association and the school district are intensifying as teachers prepare for a possible strike after months without a contract. Educators say low pay, high turnover, and inadequate classroom support are driving the dispute, while district officials face a massive structural deficit that has prompted a proposal for $102 million in cuts and more than 200 layoffs. County oversight leaders warn that OUSD is burning through reserves and cannot approve new compensation increases without offsetting reductions. District leadership maintains it is trying to reach an agreement that respects educators while staying within severe financial constraints.

A month‑long strike involving more than 30,000 Kaiser Permanente workers is set to conclude after the union announced a return to work while negotiations continue. Workers walked out in late January over what they described as inadequate staffing and insufficient contract proposals, while Kaiser argued its 21.5% wage‑increase offer was more than competitive. The union says the strike forced Kaiser back into serious bargaining, though key issues — particularly staffing levels — remain unresolved. Kaiser, meanwhile, emphasized that the union accepted its wage proposal and revealed that recent strikes have cost the organization more than $1 billion, prompting state regulators to monitor patient‑care access during the disruption.

Employees at New Seasons Market reported that a wave of layoffs disproportionately affected workers active in union organizing. Several of the dismissed employees had been publicly involved in bargaining committees or union communications, raising concerns about retaliation. The company maintains that the cuts were tied to financial pressures, but workers say the pattern suggests otherwise. The dispute has intensified tensions at stores where unionization efforts have been gaining traction.